Living Life to the Fullest
by a-unique-storm
Summary: Jess! Jess!" Jess could've sworn that it was Leslie calling him. Her voice was so clear. He ran back to the Terabithian Creek. "Leslie? LESLIE?" There she was, in the very place May-Belle had been hanging on for dear life, when he had gone to Terabithia
1. Life Without Leslie

Jess Aarons walked right into the glass doors of _KeepYourMindWideOpen_ with a slight 'oof.' **His **company. The company inspired by Leslie Burke, that some odd twenty years ago. 'No! I can't think about her right now!' Jess told himself, 'I've a presentation to do for...whatshisname..'

'Some hotshot guy who loooves your secretary, but hates you.' The voice came out of nowhere. For some reason it sounded vaguely familiar. Jess spun around to see the bustling streets of Washington. 'It's me silly,' the female voice came again.

"Who?" Jess thought he had said that a bit too loud. "Good question," the guard said, "Who are you?"

'Ahhhh. Now I remember,' reality came rushing back to Jess, 'I hired a guard because Scott Hoager was trying to get the secret behind my success...'

_Jess was ready to run, ready to beat Scott Hoager. Ready to become the fastest in the fifth grade, faster than anyone. 'Hey! New girl! This race is only for guys!...Hey! I'm talking to you!"_

_"Whatsa matter Hoager? 'Fraid a girl's gonna beat you?" Hoager didn't reply. Jess heard the GO and was off. He felt like he was flying. Nothing could stop him from crossing that finish line first, or so he thought. The new girl was starting to catch up.. What was her name...Leslie! Oh yeah. He pushed harder, but he was no match for her long strides. He dropped to the ground, exhausted, after the white-blonde hair whipped past him and graphically designed shoes passed the finish line. NO! __**He **__was supposed to win!_

Jess stood there for a moment or two. He gripped the railing. Why had that memory come back to him?

'Because it's when you lost...To a girl!' There it was again! He had to get on with his day. The guard was looking impatient.

"Oh, yeah.." Jess flashed his ID Card.

"Oh! Yes, go on in."

The voice didn't interfere with his day again. 'Thank-Goodness! I was beginning to think it sounded like-'

Jess had gotten home and his daughter, Hunter, yelled "Jess' home!" Jo walked down the path towards Jess. Jess had met Jo at the company, when she came in for a meeting about a kid's movie. Jo and Jess got married three years later, and had two kids, Hunter and Taylor. Taylor looked like her mother and Hunter looked like him. Jo had short, almost-white blonde hair, she wore it flipped out, and NEVER wore make-up. She stayed true to herself, Taylor said Jo should dye her hair. Jo refused profusely. 'She _would_ look good with brown hair, she wouldn't remind me so much of-'

"Hey Jess!" Taylor yelled, walking along with Hunter. Both were tall or their age, averaging five-foot two easily. "So how was the first day of work?" Taylor and Hunter asked in unison.

"Oh, it was good," Jess said, remembering the horrible presentation, "And your first day back to school?" The two girls lit up at that question. "I beat Hunter in the race today!" Taylor said, proudly. Jess had passed his love for running on down to his children. "Oh yeah?"

"YEAH!" Taylor knew her father was teasing her.. "I could probably beat you now!"

"You're on!" Jess said playfully, "Ready…………Set…………… GO!"

'Aww. You're not going to let your own daughters beat you, are you?' The voice came instantly, and the faded. Jess ran faster to show her, who-who ever she was, that he could win. Jess beat Taylor, naturally.

Jo and Jess were talking into the night. Even though they had been married for eleven years, Jo _still _didn't know about Jess' life as a child. "So… How was work _really_ today?" Jo asked sensing that there was something wrong earlier today.

"How did you know?" Jess said incredulously.

"I've known you for too long," Jo replied, with a hint of a smirk. Jess had never seen that smirk before. ELEVEN years and that was the first time he had seen that sarcastic smile on her face.

'Who does that remind you of?' Jess dismissed the voice. "The presentation with Mr. Preston was horrible. I totally forgot our aim. He wanted us to do a movie called 'Roll the Dice'. Interesting name, eh?"

"Yeah, I wonder what it's about."

"It's about a single father with a gambling addiction. He ends up leaving from his beautiful home in Miami. He gets so frustrated that he beats his daughter. One day he beats her so badly that she goes and tells her 'friends' and they tell the whole eighth grade. It sort of reminds me of Janice Avery…" Jess had said it before he even thought about it. He didn't want to talk about Leslie Burke. The girl who had changed his life dramatically. She helped him realize to live life, sometimes it's too short. She had died, just less than a year after he met her. But no, even though she had changed his life in a good way, it was just too painful to talk about her now, twenty-some years later. He had learned to live with the decision he made, to go with Miss Edmunds to a museum. Leslie had visited Jess in a dream about thirteen years previous. He had woken up in a cold sweat.

_"Jess! Jess!" Jess could've'e sworn that it was Leslie calling him. Her voice was so clear. He ran back to the Terabithian Creek. "Leslie!? LESLIE!?" There she was, in the very place May-Belle had been hanging on for dear life, when he had gone to Terabithia for the last time before he crowned her princess. "C'mon Jess! Help me will you," Leslie exclaimed. Panting, Jess did so, without speaking, for he was to shocked for words. "Thanks are in order, great and noble King of Terabithia. Thy hast saved me from a horrible death," Leslie said regally, then speaking normally, "Thanks Jess!" She smiled. " Well don't just stand there with your mouth hanging open!" Jess laughed. "That's better!"_

_"Wha..what?"_

_"This is a dream Jess. Until this day, you have been blaming yourself for my death. Death happens, you know," she explained, "even to the best of us!" She added, laughing just ever so slightly. "I chose to go to Terabithia. I swear I thought you were over there. I guess I forgot to check the rope. Either that or the magic of Terabithia only keeps the rope strong when we're there together. I think it was both. Jess, you have to stop blaming yourself for my death. I don't blame you, so why do you? "_

_"Because, Leslie. If I had invited you to go with us to the museum, you wouldn't have tried to go over, and you wouldn't have died."_

_"Jess, you know I've been to a museum millions of times!"_

_"I knew you'd say that. I had imagined the whole conversation that I would have with you in Terabithia after I got back. Before you...you know..."_

_"I know. I'm always with you Jess, always," Leslie explained quietly._

_"Leslie?"_

_"Yeah Jess?"_

_"Is this real, or is it all in my head?"_

_"Of course it's all in your head! but who's to say that doesn't make it real?"_

Note:

**This is my first _attempt_ at writing a fanfic. Please don't post rude comments without elaborating on why you didn't enjoy it to the extent you could have. Not just a simple "Horrible" or the like. If you give me something to work with, I can change it, somewhat. Work for the people.**

**Please rate and review. **

**Oh gosh, I'm so nervous! My First Chapter of My First Ever Fan Fic!**

**-LostTerabtihian**

** We Rule Terabithia, And Nothing Crushes Us! **

**PS. I _HAD_ to put in that line from the Hallows!!**


	2. Princess Taylor

Chapter Two 

_**Princess Taylor **_

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Disclaimer!

I [unfortunately do not own Bridge to Terabithia or their respectable characters, although I would like to; they belong to Katherine Paterson and Walden media for movie descriptions.

I do own Jo, Taylor, Hunter and the storyline. Thanks.

* * *

Note:

** Here it is! It's taken awhile, with school and what not and stupid EQAO Test pre-test things and everything with life. I had a great first chapter, but after I thought it was going nowhere so I was about to take it down when I had a great idea for a second chapter!!**

* * *

The next morning, Jess was woken up by a big fluffy ball of fur. "What!?! A _puppy? _You didn't! Seriously?" Jess laughed as the puppy jumped on the bed, Jo was sitting up in bed with Hunter and Taylor laughing too. "Yeah! Isn't she cutee? We'll name her Princess Taylor! PT for short!" Taylor exclaimed. 

"No," Jess said, suddenly stern. Hunter and Taylor stopped smiling.

"I was just joking Dad..." Taylor mumbled.

"Yeah well, it's not funny!" Jess was almost yelling. Taylor looked taken aback. Jess silently scolded himself for his out burst, 'Why did you say that? Now they're upset!'

'Yeah, but are _you_ upset?' the voice asked.

"Yes! Because I can't think one single thought without you intruding Leslie!" Jess looked around. His daughters and wife were in shock. Taylor looked close to tears, as if she'd never seen her father yell before. "Uh huh. Did I say that out loud?" he asked meekly. Jo was the only one with the nerve to nod her head. 'Wow Jess, didn't think it'd take _that_ long for you to figure out. Even for a King you were slow' the newly named voice, Leslie, pondered.

"Guys, I think it's time I told you about my best friend. Leslie Burke."

Note:

**Okay! It was freakishly short! I'm getting somewhere though! I'm probably gonna update soon, thanks to the awesome glorious March Break nothing-ness. After that. it might take awhile. I'll be confined to using the computer during library hours, considering our hard drives are still in PEI getting fixed. Sorry for the incredibly long delay. **

**Please Rate and Review.**

**-LostTerabithian**

**We Rule Terabithia, And Nothing Crushes Us!**

**PS. I might even update today, but I wanted to get this up there as fast as possible!**


	3. His Story, Her Life, Their Truth

Chapter Three

_**His Story, Her Life, Their Truth**_

* * *

Disclaimer!

I [unfortunately do not own Bridge to Terabithia or their respectable characters, although I would like to; they belong to Katherine Paterson and Walden media for movie descriptions. 

I do own Jo, Taylor, Hunter and the storyline. Thanks.

* * *

**Note:**

**The last one was really, really short, i know. But this is longer.**

Taylor, Hunter and Jo all looked at Jess with intrigue. Jess started feebly. "Well, Leslie was my- Leslie Burke was- Okay. Leslie Burke was my best friend. She was my inspiration. You know all of those pictures of a girl with blonde hair in my old notebook? Well, that was Leslie." Jo looked at him with shock. "You mean... You mean that youkept pictures of a girl you went out with over twenty years ago!" 

"No! I knew you'd take it the wrong way!" Jess roared. Taylor and Hunter looked at each other and made to leave the room.

"Oh no you don't!" Jess yelled. They looked terrified. Their father had never spoken to _anyone_ like that. 

'Jess. Calm down. You have a right to be angry, but don't take it out on them,' Leslie said imploringly, hating to see Jess yelling at his daughters the same way Jack Aarons, Jess' father yelled at him. 'Ok. You've got a point,' Jess thought, assuming that Leslie could hear it. 'That's better," Leslie said calmly, as if she knew what was going to happen anyway. "Ok. I'm sorry guys," Jess said quietly, "It's just... I've never really talked about it in a long time. Not even with my own parents. Leslie Burke was my best friend. Before she moved into the old Perkins Place, I had no friends. I was alone. Then, when Leslie came, I wasn't friendless.I had _one_ friend, a record for me. The guys picked on me for hanging out with a girl, and called Leslie my girlfriend. She wasn't," Jess added, at the look on Jo's face, "she was somewhat of a mentor. She inspired me to draw. A hobby that I had hidden from everyone, except for May-Belle. She knew that I loved to draw. Leslie was the one person who could run faster than me." Jess smiled when Taylor and Hunter looked at him with mock outrage. "Seriously?" Taylor asked. 

"Seriously." Jess was feeling better already. "But-" But at that moment, the big ball of fur jumped up and down, and Jess had to calm her. "The reason I don't want to name her Pt, is because for Leslie's eleventh birthday, I gave her a dog, and she called him Prince Terrian, PT for short."

"Why did she call him Prince Terrian? Why not just Terrian?" Jo asked, looking curious.

"Well, because he was a prince. He was the Prince of Terabithia," Jess said quickly. Hating himself for giving away the secret he thought to Leslie 'I'm sorry! But it's the only way to be able for them to understand!' 

'It's all right Jess. I don't mind. It's the truth, it's my life. I live through you through Terabithia. If it wasn't for Terabithia,I dunno what I'd have done,' Leslie answered.

"What's Terabithia Dad?" Taylor and Hunter asked in unison.Jess wondered, _What is Terabithia? What was Terabithia to me? A place? An old forest? A kingdom? A palace? No, _he answered himself, _Terabithia was love. It was created by love and friendship. Like a child. Like Taylor and Hunter. Like life. _

"Well?" 

"Terabithia was an old forest behind Leslie's and my house. We used to go there almost every day. Terabithia was love. It was created by the friendship and love that Leslie and I had for each other. We ruled over the Kingdom. Leslie took me from running in the cow's feild to a King sitting upon a throne, ruling justly over his subjects," he said, remembering what Leslie had said a long, long time ago. "I don't know how to decribe it.Those six months we had together were... Amazing."

"what happened?" Taylor asked, breaking the awkward silence, "Did she move away?"

"No," Jess said, "To get to Terabithia, you had to swing over on a rope that was tied on a branch. It had been there forever. Even before Grandpa Jack lived there. Well, one day, I was selfish enough to go with my Music teacher, miss Edmunds, to the museum instead of going to Terabithia to fufill my duties. Leslie tried to swing across and they found her..." Jess broke off, holding back sobs.

"Where did they find her Jess?" Jo asked sympathetically.

"They-Th-The-They found her d...de...de.dead... In the creek!" Jess finished, his voice shrill. He let out a huge sob. 'Jess! Jess! It's not like that! I...I... I didn't want to leave, but I'll see you again someday.' Jess gasped. There was Leslie sitting in front of him, waving, her usual perky self, looking as if twenty-three years had not passed. "Jess? What is it?" Jess thought about it. What-_who_ was Leslie to him? Leslie was an angel. Leslie was-

"Leslie." 

**Note:**

**Yes! That is where I leave you. I know i meant to update two days ago, but, ahhh. What the Heck, It's here. Take it for what it is. I have been thinking about it, and I'm wondering if I should end it here, or keep writing. I think it's great with the way it ended, but I'm still not so sure. I'm stille caught up with EQAO, and all things a sixth grader with [absolutely NO social life does. Ok, I just **_**might**_** have a social life, but it interferes with my life of reading and writing. But I will hopefully write a fanfic for ****The Prophecy of the Stones****, by Flavia Bujor.**

**ResidentBookworm.Breezy**

**(aka. LostTerabithian)**

**We Rule Terabithia, And Nothing Crushes Us!**


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